Why Learning Languages Still Matters in a Tech-Driven World: The Timeless Power of Human Connection Across Cultures

In this month’s translation industry updates we’ll be talking about why the human impact of speaking another language remains important. Tech has come a long way in the last twenty-five years and has changed how many of us relate to other languages (as well as to each other). At the same time, there are some situations where there’s just no substitute for the human touch. Here are seven of them.

Come to your own conclusions about what source material is trying to say

Nowadays it’s easier than ever to access content originally produced in other languages. Netflix alone currently supports 33 subtitled languages and 36 dubbing languages, while sales of translated fiction continue to rise, particularly among younger demographics. However, as anyone who’s ever watched subtitled audiovisual material with some knowledge of the original language will know, most translations are open to interpretation to some extent, and this is also true of translation of written material, with the only difference being that in most cases readers don’t have access to the original version for comparison in the same way they do with audiovisual material. Reading and watching translated content is an amazing way to immerse yourself in other cultures but not all concepts are necessarily easily translatable. If you want to draw your own conclusions about what source material intended to say, you might be better off accessing it in the original.

Promote smaller languages

On the one hand, the rise of the internet has made content in other languages more easily accessible. On the other hand, the internet as a whole is still dominated by a fairly narrow selection of languages, and this trend looks set to accelerate with time. As things stand at the moment, less than half the world’s languages have any digital footprint at all, while research published the the University of Manchester indicates that more than twenty European languages are in danger of so-called “digital extinction”, with Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese and Icelandic thought to be particularly vulnerable due to a lack of technological support for these languages. If you learn one of the less widely-spoken languages with a smaller online footprint and fewer learning resources available, you can help support the continuation of that language, in real-world even if not in digital terms.

Widen your social circle

If you study or work abroad then you're likely to come into contact with a lot of young, university-educated people who have a good level of English and other languages. And that's great, but not every person in a country has necessarily had the opportunity to learn languages other than the local one(s). If you gain some command of a local language then you can talk to people that you might not have been able to communicate with otherwise, which at the risk of stereotyping could potentially include older generations, people who have not received a high level of education, and people living outside of urban centres, among others. In learning and using a local language you might be able to connect with people who are very different from you in terms of their situation and life experience, as well as just their nationality, and being able to converse even haltingly with someone you would otherwise have had no chance of communicating with at all is an amazing feeling.

Connect with the 'native-language' version of people around you

One of the great things about knowing any language is that it opens our eyes to different ways of thinking, which is part of the reason so many people feel they have different personality traits in different languages. At the same time, many of us also feel that we're most "ourselves" in our own language and that there’s some part of us that’s missing when we can’t draw on our full range of expressions when dealing in other languages. If you can learn to speak to people in their language then you’re more likely to be able to see the natural version of themselves and understand them on their terms.

Hang out with people in group situations

If you travel or study abroad or work for an international company, you're likely to encounter groups of people who share a common language which is different from yours. Even if they can speak to you in your language and are generally happy to do so, at some point they might want to switch back to their own language, particularly if proficiency levels are different within the group or some people are shyer than others. If you have some command of their preferred language, you can join in with their interactions or at least understand some of what they're saying, which can help you to feel more relaxed in each other's company and also help boost your language skills for your next encounter with them.

Appreciate things that are happening around you

If you're trying to get around in another country then phrasebooks and automatic translation tools can help a lot in survival situations, as can even less sophisticated methods such as hand gestures. But if you're staying somewhere for a while then having some familiarity with the local language (or languages) will help you appreciate your surroundings more. Being able to overhear and understand parts of conversations in queues and on public transport is always interesting, as is being able to understand written text around you. Even reading adverts on billboards can sometimes tell you a lot about the overall character of a country.

Feel committed to another community or country

Learning a language is a fantastic thing to do but it’s also time-consuming and takes a huge amount of bravery. If you move somewhere for a long time or settle within a new community then learning a language is an important part of that journey and can help both you and the other people around you. Learning a language also demonstrates humility and a wish to communicate with people on their terms and immerse yourselves in that culture.

Even if you don’t live abroad, you might want to learn a language in order to feel closer to family members from other places or in memory of a deceased person, and that level of cultural connection is important in a world where so many of us have our origins elsewhere. Equally well, you might just admire another culture even if you don’t have a personal connection to it, and being part of the language can help you to appreciate it even more.

And that last point concludes our article on why the human impact of learning another language remains important! We hope you’ve enjoyed reading, but we’d love to hear your thoughts too, so please don’t hesitate to use the comments section to let us know how learning a language has had a positive influence on you.

Happy learning, and see you again for next month’s updates!